Level 3 Earns Highest Scores in Three out of Seven Product Categories in Gartner's Critical Capabilities for U.S. Wireline Telec

BROOMFIELD, Colo., April 7, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) today announced it has received high scores in a variety of product categories evaluated by Gartner in its new report, "Critical Capabilities for U.S. Wireline Telecom Services."*

The report provides an overview of the telecommunications provider landscape, examining the service providers' capabilities in terms of service performance, support, contracts and other criteria relevant to the communications needs of U.S. enterprises. Compared against nine carriers, Level 3 received the highest scores for SIP Trunking/IPTF/Dedicated Voice, Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) and Dedicated Internet services. In addition, Gartner evaluated product use cases, and ranked Level 3 No. 2 for Large-Enterprise Unmanaged, defined as an entity with more than 1,000 employees and buys a combination of voice and data services.

"Enterprises today need a secure, reliable network platform to meet their complex and ever-changing communications requirements, and Level 3 has been laser-focused on refining our product set to ensure our customers can achieve their business goals," said Anthony Christie, chief marketing officer at Level 3. "We are committed to delivering a superior customer experience, and will continue to enhance and grow our comprehensive portfolio of network offerings."

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Level 3 CommunicationsLevel 3 Communications, Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) is a Fortune 500 company that provides local, national and global communications services to enterprise, government and carrier customers. Level 3's comprehensive portfolio of secure, managed solutions includes fiber and infrastructure solutions; IP-based voice and data communications; wide-area Ethernet services; video and content distribution; data center and cloud-based solutions. Level 3 serves customers in more than 500 markets in over 60 countries over a global services platform anchored by owned fiber networks on three continents and connected by extensive undersea facilities. For more information, please visit www.level3.com or get to know us on Twitter, Facebookand LinkedIn.

Forward-Looking Statement Some statements made in this press release are forward-looking in nature and are based on management's current expectations or beliefs. These forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside Level 3's control, which could cause actual events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the statements. Important factors that could prevent Level 3 from achieving its stated goals include, but are not limited to, the company's ability to: manage risks associated with continued uncertainty in the global economy; increase revenue from its services to realize its targets for financial and operating performance; maintain and increase traffic on its network; develop and maintain effective business support systems; manage system and network failures or disruptions; avert the breach of its network and computer system security measures; develop new services that meet customer demands and generate acceptable margins; manage the future expansion or adaptation of its network to remain competitive; defend intellectual property and proprietary rights; manage continued or accelerated decreases in market pricing for communications services; obtain capacity for its network from other providers and interconnect its network with other networks on favorable terms; attract and retain qualified management and other personnel; successfully integrate future acquisitions; effectively manage political, legal, regulatory, foreign currency and other risks it is exposed to due to its substantial international operations; mitigate its exposure to contingent liabilities; and meet all of the terms and conditions of its debt obligations. Additional information concerning these and other important factors can be found within Level 3's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this press release should be evaluated in light of these important factors. Level 3 is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any such obligation to, update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.